Flint and Magnesium bar

[Adi007]

Anyone else here bother with one of these? I've got one and I've used it but in now lives in my emergency kit - the kind of thing I'd break open in dire need (or if I was bored and wanted to make a good, blinding flash! :shock: )

 

[PC2K]

i got a MFS, it stinks ! takes too long to scrape enough and it burns to quick ! It also get blown away to easy, so it is a nightmare even with just a moderate breeze. Fatwood is much easyier to scrape and burn much longer ( smells beter too ! :-D ) It also seams to stay in one place during a breeze much beter than magnisium. Mine MFS is somewhere in one of those boxes under mine bed... somewhere...

 

[JakeR]

They are absolutely useless. Take ages to get a decent amount of scrapings. When you get enough, you cant gather them because of an uneven surface, they dont burn long enough. To top it up, if you have a good amount all together, they get blown away like you said!

The flint doesnt last long enough either.

Cheers,

Jake

 

[Hoodoo]

I shall endeavor to defend the lowly magnesium fire starter.

First, it's waterproof. Second, its gives you tinder and spark in one simple package. Third, magnesium burns very hot and will light just about anything. Fourth, it's light and compact. And fifth, it's easy to use if you know how.

It also makes a damn good minikit saw. :-D

 

[C_Claycomb]

And lastly, Hoodoo's looks LOTS different from the things you get in shops here!! Is that heavily customised, or was it bought like that?

I too have found the things you get here useless, the block is hard to scrape, the flint rod is too small and wears away fast, the magnesium shavings are hard to keep in one place, they blow away, they fall between other tinder. grrrr.

Fatwood rocks. FAR better than metal blocks.

 

[JakeR]

Whats fatwood?

 

[Adi007]

Fatwood is pine wood that is naturally saturated with resin. This natural oversaturation normally happens to stumos of trees broken off in accidents.

 

[JakeR]

Why would fatwood rock? :-D

 

[Adi007]

It lights easily, burns for a long time, is waterproof ... need I go on! :-D

 

[JakeR]

Its just resin? I saw Mr Mears make a candle in the rocky mountains out of it. Must give it a go.

 

[Adi007]

Its just resin? I saw Mr Mears make a candle in the rocky mountains out of it. Must give it a go.

It's resinous wood ... almost crystaline in feel and very hard. I'll trye to get some piuctures up later of it and how it burns.

 

[Hoodoo]

Fatwood is great stuff. I never go in the woods without some. The little saw I made if from a magnesium bar that was cut in half.

For regular use, I would go with a larger ferro rod and some fatwood or cotton soaked in vaseline (my favorite). But the mag/ferro rod is a true survival tool. Make sure you know how to use it, then tuck it away where, if you really need it, it will be handy. You can coat the ferro rod with nail polish so it won't rust.

Here are several tricks on using it. First, you can scrape the magnesium into a cotton ball. It will stay right there. Second, you can make a dimple in your hat or hanky and it will stay right there in a pile. Third, scrape plenty and fourth, hold the striker still and move the ferro rod away from the magnesium pile so the air current from your hand doesn't blow the magnesium away.

For me, it's strictly a backup tool but I still practice with it. If you know where you can get some magnesium (like an old lawn mower deck, you can drill holes in it and save the shavings for tinder. I carry mine in a film canister. Magnesium will burn under water, eh?

 

[ANDYLASER]

I gave mine to my girlfriend. I now have a blast match and wetfire tinder. This combination absolutely rules. :biggthump

 

[ditchfield]

I've made a little concoction out of fat wood shavings, magnesium shavings, powdered parafin wax and cotton wool fibres. It lights easily with a spark and burns long and hot.

 

[sargey]

i noticed this avo' that one of the local garden centres was selling packs of fatwood as chimnea fire starters.

cheers, and.